Steam Powered Car - The Car of the Future?

The X-Men evaluated an idea found in the article 'The Steam Powered Car' by Pat Quinn

In the article ‘The Steam Powered Car’ by Pat Quinn, the author proposes that “Now the cost of petrol has risen over the years, and the air is becoming polluted with fumes, a steam powered car could be the car of the future”. We are evaluating this claim as to whether it could be feasible or not.

One perspective is that steam powered cars could make a comeback because you don’t have to pay for petrol. Petrol prices have risen dramatically over the years meaning it is very expensive to fuel a car. Steam power could save you money for more important things in life.

Further support for the return of steam powered cars is that it is friendly to the environment and us. Pollution harms us, animals and the environment. In New Zealand we have a hole in our ozone layer. The ozone layer protects us from the harmful rays from the sun, having steam powered cars would mean there is no pollution coming from cars causing further damage.

Alternatively some may believe that steam powered cars could not make a comeback because you would have to light a match to start the car. Lighting a match is very risky because there is a chance that you could accidently light something around you in the car.

Another objection against the return of steam powered cars is it could take you up to 25 minutes to start your car. This would be inconvenient because you would have to wait a very long time before you could go anywhere, meaning you would be late to work  and would not be able to get anywhere quickly in an emergency.

Overall we believe that it is not feasible that steam powered cars will make a comeback. Car manufacturers have begun innovating to produce electric cars that do not produce emissions, driverless cars and even flying cars. We believe these innovations would not be possible if the cars were powered by steam. Modern technology (e.g. electricity, software) is powering these innovations not old fashioned methods such as water boilers, cranks and lighting matches.